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Matsumoto Airport

The Saihokukan Hotel

Nagano

The hotel is made up of two areas, one of which is completely inaccessible (we found the yellow toilet - see photo). We accidentally discovered the newest area and asked to be moved. However, even the room in the newest area turned out to be too old so we checked out and fled to Tokyo!

It's too dated.

Located at the bottom of Zenkoji temple mountain, this hotel provides old but quiet setting. Good to stay after a visit to the temple, and some shops, restaurants alongside the road to the Nagano station. Breakfast in the Japanese restaurant in the hotel provided a gorgeous breakfast plate with several small dishes. One of the best Japanese breakfast ever.

Very old hotel, but good location

This is a large luxury hotel where many big events are held.  It was chosen by someone from Nagano for us.

The Japanese breakfast is excellent.  You can actually choose either Western or Japanese style.  You may also choose to either sit in a table or inside the Tatami room area with sliding screens.

I like the Japanese breakfast as I know I will never have it again.  Although they may be similar everyday, it does have some variations.  We were at this hotel for about 5 nights.

This location is very quiet and has a view of the city from our room which is higher than the surrounding neighborhood.  It is walking distance to the pretty and slightly hilly downtown area.  The town is charming with old fashion street lights.

It is also very close to the Japan Rail station - about a 7-10 minutes ride. 

The hotel has a shuttle that can take you outside the downtown area if you request.  We did not know about it until local friend had arranged it.  We were able to eat at a local crab place outside the main city (about 15 minutes away) and get picked up to return to the hotel.

The hotel also has another restaurant that serves French type food.  It is well prepared.

The rooms are large enough with a couch and table sitting area plus a desk.  There is WIFI in the room except our room's WIFI was having some problems so I had to get the password from our relatives from the other room to get our WIFI from our room to work.  I don't know what the issue was.

A few weddings are held there on weekends as we observed.  

This hotel is well known to the locals.  I like it because although the amenities are western, I totally feel like I am not in the Western world.  It is a quiet hotel.

LONG ESTABLISHED HOTEL

This hotel - formerly a historical feature of Nagano city has signs of former opulence. The original facade has been covered but inside there are some original features visible. The foyer is  charmingly decorated and there are reception area rooms, which I know are gorgeous and have all the elegance of a bygone era - but unfortunately were not open for an inspection. I would have loved to have been given the opportunity to view them - perhaps I regret not asking for this - as I am sure the staff would have obliged.

The hotel caters for mainly business people and local wedding receptions  - most of the tourists to Nagano stay in the snowfields. However as a base for exploring Nagano, Matsumoto and the Snow Monkeys - this is an ideal place to stay for independent travellers. Actually we really enjoyed staying here for the peace and quiet the hotel provided. It felt comfortable and unpretentious.

Location wise - the hotel is a short distance to the main shopping section of Nagano city (near Daimon and the Zenkoji Temple complex). I believe the distance would be no more than 500 metres (5 mins walk)  and probably a kilometre or a 20 minute walk to the train station. 

Nagano has a small but quite lovely shopping and dining precinct (but not Gondo stay away)  - and if you do visit Nagano you must go to the Fujiya Gohonjin restaurant (separate review is coming....) for a very special dining experience. If you don't at least go to their patisserie opposite.

The restaurants at the hotel itself serve excellent food, nicely presented and the service provided was so gracious - it was top notch really. The restaurant surroundings are very pleasant too. We did not try the Champagne Bar or the Chinese restaurant - just SEIJI  and the in-house Japanese restaurant -  which featured Kimino clad waitresses and a lovely Japanese garden. The food here was fantastic - the sashimi was very fresh, melt in the mouth and looked great - I'll try to add another few photos soon. The price of food here is great value.

For breakfast there is no buffet. Instead you are offered a choice of a western or Japanese breakfast. Fairly limited for some, probably.

We stayed in the main building in a standard room. The room was quite spacious but requires its carpet to be replaced. Other than that, the room provided an outlook of a lovely garden where I assume weddings are held and also provided a lovely view of the mountains. The bedding was comfortable and I liked the availability of fresh air - the windows can be opened. The in-house TV guidance system explained the buttons for the TV remote control - which was better than the Shangri-La Hotel in Tokyo!.

It would be an advantage for the hotel to consider English menus for its restaurants, however check-in and check-out was not an issue. I reserved via email but I also think reservation would be easier if the hotel considered using external agencies to attract non-Japanese customers. If reserving via email - keep your English simple.

Our side trip to the Snow Monkeys was easy from Nagano city. Its a short and direct bus ride (40 minutes) from Nagano Station.

Special thanks to Kyle and staff for making our stay a delight.

Gracious Japanese Service

I came with family to Nagano because I had some friends in the area and they recommended Saihokukan for my Mother and Sister more than for me, though I was just as impressed. It was the first time to Japa for my Mother and only the second for my Sister, and both are incapable of coping with the Japanese style toilets, public bathing, hot springs, raw fish, and lots of the great things that make Japan Japan. At Saihokukan though there was a choice of three restaurants Japanese, Chinese, and Western, and when they needed a break from fish and noodles and what not we went in for a sandwhich at the Western restaurant Seiji, and it was a big relief for both of them.

As for the rooms, there is a big difference in the southern wing (a newer building annexed in the more recent history) and the main building which has a history of over 120 years! I spent time chatting with some of the staff and after we checked in they offered to upgrade our rooms for free because there were openings and we lived like kings! The southern building was more salary man style, normal rooms with bath and shower and the goods, but the main building was spacious, "classic," and very relaxing.

One of the best things all around though was most definitely the food. For breakfast we had a choice of Western or Japanese style, and we all took Western the first morning, and the yogurt was uncannily delicious. I don't know how they did it, but we all looked forward to the yogurt every morning. Bacon, toast, eggs, sausage, juices, home roasted coffee, etc.

The restaurants all boasted their policy of using zero chemicals and flavorings in all of their food, something I'm always relieved to hear, and something my family was most pleased to hear. MSG tends to give my mother migraines, and we had our first overseas journey with no migraines! (expect for one in Tokyo, probably alcohol related ^_^). The hand made consome soup was amazing, and the Chinese restaurant was clearly very popular, and I would agree with the crowd, very tastey!

We walked to Zenkouji temple, walked all around the city, and friends drove us around to nearby cities for more sight-seeing and shopping. Lot's of great restaurants and shopping on the main road just a couple minutes East of the hotel by foot.

I can see how some might not like the nicks and crannies of age the building certainly shows, but the atmosphere was well paid for.All in all the friendliness of the staff, both young and old, is what did it for me. They upgraded our rooms free of charge to help try and give my family a better experience, and yes we did!

Best service ever!

This hotel is showing its age, but for one night at 9500 yen we thought we would give it a try.

Our western style room needed a major renovation. The carpets were torn and worn, the walls were stained with exhaust from the ventilation system, the bathtub was crumbling, the heat was stifling and there was no way to adjust the temperature (we resorted to opening the windows.) There is internet in the room.

We ate at the french restaurant at the hotel. The food was of medium quality, although the hotel boasted of its local and organic flair. We had overpriced Cava at the champagne bar.

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